12-14-2016, 09:02 AM
It could be that the WJC spectators ended up being primarily local and so the economic impact ended up being less per spectator than for something like the Canada Games where there are lots of traveling athletes who, being young, are also more likely to be traveling with family members/support.
I really hope we succeed in getting this off the ground. This area isn't particularly well known for sport or athletics, but there are a lot of elite runners and triathletes who train out of Guelph and Hamilton and KW to a lesser extent (usually linked with Guelph or Hamilton still, though). Here in KW, though, the infrastructure to support elite athletes is pretty dismal with some facilities actually designed to discourage it. The situation for pools in Waterloo Region is particularly dismal without a single facility suitable for elite competition. The Rec Complex came depressingly close except for the fact that the pool got chopped down in order to fit the play zone on the one end. A proper indoor track would also be nice. The Rec Centre one isn't too bad, but it's not run with an emphasis on supporting athletics, and so is missing critical support infrastructure and seems mainly to focus on serving neighbouring elderly people who want to go for a walk indoors. Hopefully the Canada Games will lead to some of this infrastructure being built or improved to fill in some of this need.
I really hope we succeed in getting this off the ground. This area isn't particularly well known for sport or athletics, but there are a lot of elite runners and triathletes who train out of Guelph and Hamilton and KW to a lesser extent (usually linked with Guelph or Hamilton still, though). Here in KW, though, the infrastructure to support elite athletes is pretty dismal with some facilities actually designed to discourage it. The situation for pools in Waterloo Region is particularly dismal without a single facility suitable for elite competition. The Rec Complex came depressingly close except for the fact that the pool got chopped down in order to fit the play zone on the one end. A proper indoor track would also be nice. The Rec Centre one isn't too bad, but it's not run with an emphasis on supporting athletics, and so is missing critical support infrastructure and seems mainly to focus on serving neighbouring elderly people who want to go for a walk indoors. Hopefully the Canada Games will lead to some of this infrastructure being built or improved to fill in some of this need.